Ina Coolbrith

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Ina Coolbrith (born Josephine Donna Smith) (March 10, 1841-1928) was a poet and writer, and a prominent and beloved figure in the San Francisco literary community.

She was a friend of Samuel Clemens, Bret Harte, Charles Warren Stoddard, and Joaquin Miller, and contributed articles to the influential magazine, the Overland Monthly.

Coolbrith's mother brought her daughter to California in 1851 after leaving a polygamous marriage in the Latter-day Saint community.^[1]

In 1873 she became librarian at the Oakland Free Library, and, in 1895, befriended and mentored the young Jack London. Jack London called her his "literary mother."

In 1915 she was named the first poet laureate of California. Her name is commemorated by Ina Coolbrith Park at Taylor and Vallejo in San Francisco, and Mount Ina Coolbrith, a 7,900 foot peak near Beckworth Pass in the Sierra Nevada near U.S. Highway 70. She is buried in Mountain View Cemetery in Oakland, California.